DOJ nixes plea to junk raps vs Robredo

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Justice (DOJ) has brushed aside the petition of supporters of Vice President Leni Robredo, seeking the immediate dismissal of criminal charges against her over involvement in an alleged plot to oust President Duterte.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said the petition of advocacy group Team Pilipinas will have no bearing in the preliminary investigation on charges of sedition or inciting to sedition, cyber libel, libel, estafa and harboring a criminal or obstruction of justice, against Robredo and 34 other opposition personalities filed by the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG).

In its petition, Team Pilipinas represented by Bianca Lacaba asked the DOJ to immediately dismiss the criminal complaint against Robredo, saying the charges are “baseless.”

They said to prosecute Robredo and remove her from office based on “bogus allegations” from Peter Joemel Advincula “is a clear violation of the mandate of the people, and an outright insult to our democracy.”

Advincula, also known as “Bikoy” in the “Ang Totoong Narcolist” videos, accused Robredo and other opposition personalities of being behind the alleged ouster plot.

The group has also launched an online petition on website Change.org pushing for dismissal of the complaint.

“The DOJ considers petitions, letters or rallies as mere expressions of opinions. They do not affect in any way the disposition of the case on the merits,” Guevarra explained. “The policy of the DOJ is to resolve cases on the basis of evidence only and nothing else.”

The DOJ chief, however, assured the supporters of Robredo the charges would be resolved fairly and swiftly and that the respondents would be given ample opportunities to disprove the allegations against them.

Just a week after the filing of the complaint, the DOJ panel summoned Robredo and other respondents last Friday to a preliminary investigation (PI) hearing set on Aug. 9.

Guevarra also addressed the allegation of the group that the charges were meant to silence the opposition.

“The DOJ is not a weapon for oppression or persecution. We shall go only by the evidence presented before us and we don’t care who gets indicted and who goes scot-free. But once probable cause is determined and a criminal case is filed in court, the DOJ will exert the full force of the law to secure a conviction,” he said.

The CIDG alleged that respondents “planned to spread false information against President Duterte’s family and administration officials in order to agitate the general population into making mass protest with the possibility of bringing down the President from the position and allow Vice President Robredo to instantly succeed.”

Meanwhile, the Vice President, in her weekly radio program “BISErbisyong Leni” over dzXL, said yesterday that Solicitor General Jose Calida should focus on addressing the more than one million backlog cases in his office than meddling in complaints targeting the perceived critics of the administration.

Robredo has questioned the involvement of Calida’s office in the sedition case filed by the PNP-CIDG against her and other opposition figures.

 “What keeps him busy are lies, and a star witness, who is a liar, who they still believe. There are lots of cases pending before his office that are not being addressed,” Robredo said.

 According to news reports, employees of the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) assisted in drafting the affidavit of Advincula. Calida’s office later admitted participating in crafting Bikoy’s affidavit, saying it is the legal duty of the office to serve its clients – in this case, the PNP-CIDG, which initiated the filing of the complaint.

Robredo, who is also a lawyer, lamented that Calida’s actions are putting the entire institution in a bad light. 

“It’s unfortunate because there are many good and competent lawyers at OSG. SolGen Calida is just giving them a bad image,” she said.

Go backs sedition raps

Sen. Bong Go expressed his sentiments regarding the complaints filed against certain opposition personalities and officials concerning their alleged involvement in the “Ang Totoong Narcolist” videos. 

“I was one of those aggrieved by this. Twice I was disrespected; twice made to undress to show that they were lying. Let’s wait for the DOJ and the cases filed against them,” Go said in Filipino. 

Go also called for justice on behalf of those he said were maliciously implicated in the black propaganda spread through the videos, including himself and the Duterte family. He added that it is important that those responsible held accountable. 

Go said there is a possibility for the Senate to investigate this issue through an inquiry in aid of legislation, to ensure that there will be stronger measures in place to stop these kinds of malicious acts. – With Helen Flores